~DJ~
Boise, Idaho
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Now that you are experiencing the remoteness and solitude or our side of the country you know why we pack enough supplies for a week although we are only going for a weekend. You may HAVE to spend more time than anticipated, break down, snowed in, etc. No one right around the corner to help out.
Very, Very Good trip report. I sure am enjoying it. Give a holler if you get near Boise. 
2011 F250 Super Cab Lariat 6.2 373 FX4 Short Box 4" BDS, 35" Toyos, TorkLift, 16.5K Warn, Locked & Loaded
2007 SunLite Pop Up
26th Marines RVN 69-70 Semper Fi
M-14 was the only Woodstock I saw in 1969.
JANE CALL HOME
1 800 HANOI
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mowermech
Billings, MT
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When you get to Moab, go to the book store and get the Guide to Moab Back Roads and Trails by Wells, then go rent a Jeep Rubicon and do some exploring. Go down and take the Elephant Hill trail out to the Confluence Overlook, where you can see the Green and Colorado Rivers run together. The rivers are different colors, and it is quite a sight! On the way back, be sure to stop and see the "Hole in the Rock", a hand carved house built into the cliff. Fantastic!
The book rates Elephant Hill as "difficult", but there are only a couple of bad spots, the rest is pretty easy. I have run it with a nearly stock Jeep Wrangler SE.
Be sure you take lots of water, and a lunch, and if possible hook up with somebody else so you are not out there alone.
Great reports so far, keep'em coming. I think we all envy you!
CM1, USN (RET)
'94 Dodge 3500 4X2 CTD, 5 speed, 4.10 LS diff., Jacobs Rambrake, 275,000 Miles
'95 Tioga 29H Ford-based Class C
Daily driver: 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee Hemi
Toad: 2006 Jeep Rubicon LJ
"When seconds count, help is only minutes away!"
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petekerwien
Camano Island, WA
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Joe: In Cedar CIty, UT there is a restaurant with trains running around the room. I forget the name of it, but the town is not that big!
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petekerwien
Camano Island, WA
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Joe: check this out too.
www.hebervalleyrr.org
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petekerwien
Camano Island, WA
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Joe: found the restaurant:
http://www.swissalpsinn.com/dkhome.htm
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TwoMaineiacs
Near Freeport, Maine
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Joined: 04/08/2006
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Thanks for all the tips on jeeps, restaurants, etc. Tonight we are on BLM land along the Colorado River. Thought it would be pretty rowdy when a whole pack of bicylists rolled in but once their tents were set up - they crashed!
June 12 - Along the Colorado River and Arches National Park
Finally - a hot, dry, sunny day with not a taste of snow. After pouring over possible ways to get to Arches National Park from Green River, UT, we chose to go across I-70 to Cisco and take Route 128 south along the Colorado River. We try to find Scenic Byways if we can and this one was particularly scenic. The land along I-70 has that blasted look of desert with almost no greenery, lots of sage brush, rabbits and probably a lot of snakes but I wasn't going looking for them. A sign on the highway said "Eagles in Highway". They must pick up the road kill but we didn't see any.
We sort of looked at each other when we turned down Route 128 because it was a small road leading off forever. On we drove and suddenly you turn a corner and there in the distance is a low, long line of red. Not sure what it is until you get closer and see that it is a wall of red rock, buttes, boulders, and finally greenery in a string along the Colorado River.
This is part of the west we came looking for. We stopped over and over to stand awestruck in front of a wall or canyon of red rock. We walked a ways into a canyon but didn't lose sight of the road. Figured it would be pretty embarrassing to get rescued as "Two tourists from Maine who were too dumb to find the road again". We watched the rafters put in on the river and saw some ride over the rapids. The river rides are a huge business in this part of the country. About every other shop we saw in Moab had something to do with rafting, pack trips, canyon trips, Jeep excursions or "rent a Hummer excursions".
The National Park Service visitor center at Arches National Park did a very good job on explaining the geology of what you would see up in Arches. School is out in the west and there were a lot more people around than we had anticipated. The campground at the top of Arches was already full. We took the main road and all the side roads up to the top of Arches National Park and just could not believe our eyes. No way to explain how vast this land is and how red the earth is, with arches, spires, knobs, and canyons. We walked up to some of the arches, even walking around one but didn't do as many as we wanted due to the heat and altitude. Don't laugh those of you who live out here. I know it isn't really hot yet but we're thick blood people from the north.
A ranger took quite a bit of time with us and helped us plot our course from Arches to Canyonland top and bottom to Natural Bridge to Capitol Reef to Bryce to Zion to north rim of the Grand Canyon to south rim. He asked if were planning on a two week trip to do this 
Hopefully we will be able to camp in some of the national parks in Utah but since we don't' know where we will be when, hard to make reservations. Tonight we are on BLM lands on the Colorado River just north of Moab. We were going into Moab to a recommended restaurant for authentic Mexican food but too nice to just sit by the river and eat left over steak and salad and watch what we think are bats.
Tomorrow we head off to Canyonlands National Park to hopefully get into a campground - just don't know which side of the park yet.
4163 miles $1,692.49 in diesel, 370 gallons for overall 11.25 miles per gallon. Not that horrible considering all the mountain driving we have been doing plus the stopping constantly.
* This post was
edited 06/12/08 09:24pm by TwoMaineiacs *
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On the Road Again from Rural Maine
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SoCalDesertRider
SanDiego, CA, USA
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Wow, beautiful places, great pictures, what an adventure, what a trip!
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jimandsue60
Sanibel Island
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Thanks for the great photos and updates.
Jim
2011 Mobile Suites 38 REPS, 2011 Chevy 3500 Dually. Click here to see our adventures
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mowermech
Billings, MT
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If you enjoy a cold beer now and then, a stop at the Moab Brewery to taste their wares is a must! They also have good food!
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TwoMaineiacs
Near Freeport, Maine
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June 13 - Canyonlands National Park to Hanksville, UT
No bad luck today on a Friday the 13th. Clear, sunny, about 75F
degrees most of the day with only a bit of low 80s. Sure can tell the difference in dry climate in the west as we went through a lot of water and iced tea today, much more than in New England at the same temps. No wonder all the warning signs at trailheads say to take a gallon of water a person per day.
From Moab we went north to Canyonlands National Park and glad we did. I figured you seen one canyon you seen them all. Not! This is a wild, unforgiving land and reading the information signs on how the early ranchers survived was interesting. The Indians colonized and abandoned this land many times over thousands of years as the climate changed. We almost had this park to ourselves as most people go over to Arches and never see Canyonlands. We hiked some of the trails around Shafer Canyon Viewpoint and Buck Canyon overlook. From Shafer you could see part of a 110 mile jeep trail that you TCers who Jeep must live for.
We also listened to a Ranger at the Green River overlook talk about how the canyons were formed and why they are still eroding. You know, when you don't have to learn this stuff for tests, it's pretty interesting.
Backtracked through Moab to dump the tanks and take on a bit of water. Then south from Moab headed down Route 191 again, a scenic byway in Utah. Towns are very few and very far between on 191 so decided to diesel up. $5.09 a gallon in Blanding, UT but they do have to get it there and it really is the middle of just about nowhere. Near Blanding we cut over onto Route 95, again a scenic byway and went to Natural Bridges National Monument. This is a very small park and showcases three rock bridges carved out by river activity. I skipped going down to the one where you had to climb down ladders at three different levels. Just about got run over by an 82 year old woman hiking along - you go girl! Made it to the other two and one of them was a painful hike but worth it.
Unfortunately both the campground for Natural Bridges and the BLM site nearby were full. We tried to talk the ranger into just letting us park but he said no as the BLM site was being harmed with too many people. So on we went north, through miles and miles of incredible bright red rock canyons in Glen Canyon. Every time you turned a corner the landscape changed and looked just like all those western movies we watched as kids.
This is open stock range land but never saw any cattle, only a lot of jackrabbits. We crossed the Dirty Devil River right where it and the Colorado River empty into Lake Powell. Got passed a lot by pickups hauling Skidoos and pulling huge power boats headed for the lake.
Sort of dumb not to just stop somewhere on open range land for the night but if you haven't been out west, it's hard to explain the feeling of being alone on the range. We're used to forests and trees and a more closed in feeling. Decided to come up to Hanksville, UT closer to Capital Reef National Park which we are going to tour tomorrow. There are a lot of petroglyphs there, plus more info on geology and early man in this part of the west. $10 campground with clean hot showers next to a restaurant where Joe had a really good broiled trout for supper.
Tomorrow - on to Capital Reef and towards Bryce.
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